


A Lesson for Teach

by AParticularlyLargeBear



Series: Lessons [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7994380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AParticularlyLargeBear/pseuds/AParticularlyLargeBear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maribelle learns something interesting about Vaike, and hits upon the perfect way to tell him something interesting in return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson for Teach

**Author's Note:**

> In summary I forgot how much I loved this ship and the idea jumped wholesale into my head. Vaike has so many good ships?

_Great gods almighty, can nobody stop this man? He's taken on all comers and proven utterly unbeatable! A master of the axe, a master of the ways of combat, opponent after opponent has tested their mettle against him, and all have been found wanting!_

_He's strong! He's tough! He's the greatest warrior in Ylisse! He's really handsome! He is the one and the onlllllly-_

"Vaike, darling?"

"Bwuhu?"

Vaike snapped upright, visions of defeated opponents dancing behind his eyes for just an instant, before resolving into the figure of his wife, looking down upon him, an immaculate eyebrow arched.

"Oh good, you're awake," said Maribelle. "I was beginning to think you'd lapsed into some manner of coma."

"Belllllle..." he grumbled. "The Vaike was having a dream!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that, as 'The Vaike' talks in his sleep."

Vaike blinked, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "Uhhh... naw, no way. That's crazy talk, 'Belle. You must've been hearing things."

Maribelle smirked. "Oh really now, 'greatest warrior in Ylisse'?" she leaned down and ruffled his hair. "Quite fortunately for you, and against my better judgement, I do in fact care enough for you to let that pass."

He cleared his throat awkwardly, fists bunching up a handful of grass each. Darn. She always managed to see right through him; he had to up his game. "Love you too, 'Belle," sheepishly, he picked himself up, out from the shade beneath the tree which he'd been napping under. "So, 'sup?"

"'How can I help you?', darling," Maribelle corrected with a sigh. "And I simply wished to investigate an interesting rumour."

"Oho?" Vaike waggled his eyebrows at her. "Lookin' for the common gossip now, are ya?" he grinned at her, and she responded by turning up her nose.

"Nonsense. I do not gossip," Maribelle harrumphed.

"But you  _do_ wake a fella' up when he's sleeping?"

"Considering how frequently your snoring disturbs my rest, darling, I consider this to be an appropriate recompense."

"Yeah, and what about you disturbin' mine?"

"Excuse me- I do NOT snore, you cretin!" Maribelle sputtered.

Vaike burst out laughing, and just a second or so later, Maribelle giggled softly. She would never admit to doing something so  _undignified,_ and she quickly muffled the laugh behind the back of her hand, but the sound was enough to send fizzing warmth into the bottom of Vaike's heart. Those laughs were just another reason he adored her, and hells, wasn't that a turn up for the books? Vaike didn't think there was an odder pair in the entire army than the two of them.

Though there  _was_ Donny and Tharja. And Lissa and Lon'qu. And...

Okay, so maybe there were a lot of odd couples. Point still stood; Vaike, amazing stud of a man asides, was still from a slum. Maribelle was a noblewoman, the daughter of a  _duke_ for Naga's sake! He never would have expected her to look at him twice, not unless to chastise him about using the wrong of fifteen salad forks. Which, to be fair, had actually happened at one of their dinner dates. Not  _romantically_ though.

He supposed that even the nobility just couldn't resist the charms of the Vaike.

"Vaike, dear? Remember what we discussed about paying attention whilst others are talking?"

Vaike jerked out of his reverie. "Gah! Sorry, 'Belle. I was just ya know... thinkin' about the two of us."

"Oh?" Maribelle's irritation lapsed into a small smile. "Do tell."

He puffed out his chest. "That we're real lucky to have each other, I guess," he grinned lopsidedly. "'Course, you aren't quite as lucky as the Vaike is."

She poked him lightly on said chest. "You incorrigible flatterer," she placed both hands on her hips. "However, I do still have something I wish to discuss."

Rolling his shoulder, Vaike shrugged. "Aright, go ahead. Teach is an open book."

Maribelle tilted her head to the side, just looking at him for a moment. "Lissa informed me that you borrowed her staff during the last battle. To hit an enemy with."

Vaike grinned, fondly remembering. That had been  _great_. "Yeah. Ya should've seen their face when ol' Teach whacked 'em!"

"Gross misuse of our resources asides, Lissa told me that you went on to actually use the stave for its intended purpose. Something about healing Donnel?"

He made a face. Trust the squirt to blab about that. Not that his magic was a secret or anything; the Vaike didn't keep secrets, it was just something he didn't really bring up. Like, c'mon, did he  _look_ like some kind of priest or pointy-hatted parchment-pusher? "It wasn't nothin', 'Belle, just a scratch."

Maribelle sighed. "Double negatives, dear..." she arched an eyebrow again. "However, any amount of healing is still rather impressive for a novice."

He chuckled. "Well, ya know. The Vaike is great at all he touches," another shrug. "Always had a lil' bit of magic, 'Belle, but it ain't really my thing. Donny just needed help, and the Vaike watches out for his friends."

Maribelle nodded. "That does make a certain amount of sense. You do have a habit of neglecting areas that don't specifically interest you. A tremendous waste, if you ask me."

He hadn't, but he knew Maribelle too well to argue that point. "It ain't like that, s'more... Look, you can't concentrate on fightin' like the Vaike does  _and_ healin' people. It doesn't work."

"If you say so, darling," Maribelle replied, in a tone which meant 'this isn't over'. 

She was quiet for several long seconds, just looking at him with an expression that Vaike couldn't read. He'd never really been good at subtle, and it was pretty much nothing but luck that Maribelle tended to wear her emotions openly. The way she was studying him though... Vaike had no idea what that meant, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Probably not. She was a lot smarter than him. Not that the Vaike was dumb! Just not as smart as Maribelle.

Eventually, just as he was going to ask whether she was done staring at his muscles, she broke the silence. "This will sound a little odd, Vaike, but I must ask you bear with me. There's something I'd like to do, and it involves your magic."

The makings of a lascivious grin died on his face. That sentence hadn't ended nearly as promisingly as it started. "C'mon, 'Belle, The Vaike just got done tellin' ya-"

"I know, darling, and that is why I requested you bear with me," she folded her arms, and Vaike knew his fate was sealed. "So may I ask that you kindly allow me to finish?"

Earlier in their relationship, his shoulders would have sagged. Vaike now knew better, and just nodded. "Awright."

She smiled, softly. "And Vaike? Don't worry, I have no intention of drafting you into magic lessons. Not yet, in any case. This is something else entirely."

Maribelle really did have a habit of offering reassurances that weren't actually that reassuring.

"Firstly, I would like you to close your eyes."

Obligingly, he did so, and a moment later, he felt a pair of dainty hands take his own broad and callused ones. Maribelle drew his hands upwards, and then a little forwards, and soon enough, he found himself cupping her face. Maribelle let him go, laying her hands flat on his shoulders.

"Now, leave them there," she murmured. 

Under normal circumstances, Vaike would have liked where this was going. The mention of magic, though? That threw him for a loop. 

"If you would, can you tell me how it feels when you draw upon your magic? What kind of emotions does it make you feel?"

Vaike frowned, eyes still closed. "I dunno, really. Determined, I guess? The Vaike wanted to make sure Donny was gonna be okay."

"No no no," Maribelle chided. "Healing Donnel was your _goal_ , darling. The determination was merely a catalyst for that."

He hesitated, trying to remember. When he'd been holding Lissa's staff, what was he feeling? There was a lot of blood; Donny wasn't going to  _die_ or nothing, but Vaike had been pretty worried. Would never have tried to use the staff if he hadn't been. Vaike had the sense that 'concern' wouldn't be an answer 'Belle would accept either, though. She'd call that his... whatchamacallit...  _motivation_. 

Oddly enough, what actually came to him was a memory. It was from way back when - back when he'd been small and hadn't left his hometown. Seeing someone laying bleeding out in the street, that sort of ... sucking, hollow emptiness in the pit of his stomach at knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Cause he might have been The Vaike (even as a young teen), but he wasn't a miracle worker and  _dammit_ this was out of his league.

"Kind of... sad, I suppose," Vaike replied, swallowing a lump in his throat that wasn't there before.

"I see," the jaw in his hands dipped as Maribelle nodded. "Unusual, but not unheard of. Very well, then..." she trailed off. "I apologise for this darling, but I would like you to concentrate on bringing up a similar feeling. Focus on that. Tap into your mana."

Vaike grimaced. If anyone else in the world had asked him to do that, he would have told them where to shove it, but her... "Teach doesn't normally do requests, 'Belle, but he'll give that one a shot," it was a little more effort than usual to sound confident.

"Thank you. Truly."

He took a deep breath. Okay. Sad thoughts, sad thoughts. Not even sad, actually, but maybe more... helpless?

Then it came crashing in.

Seeing Chrom - his buddy, his  _rival,_ after Emmeryn fell. The look of sorrow on his face, the tightness in his jaw as he tried not to cry. Eddi hovering nearby, lost for words, Lissa sobbing brokenly, her head buried against Frederick's chest. And Vaike standing there, trying to think of something -  _anything_ to say which could make it better, but knowing that there was nothing. Not in a million years.

Vaike's hands tingled, and suddenly, there was warmth. Warmth from him, from Maribelle.

"There we are," Maribelle whispered. "That's it exactly."

This was... weird. Really weird. Vaike could feel Maribelle's skin against his palms, and that had its own heat, but this was something else entirely. It was like a glow, if a glow was something that had a texture and a feeling. It was Maribelle, but a part of Maribelle that he had never seen or touched before. Her... aura?

Thinking about it was giving him a headache.

"Concentrate, now. Can you sense me?"

He started to say no, because duh, he was touching her, but then... well, what else did this sensation mean? It went beyond just having her face in his palms. "Y...yeah, I guess so."

"Good. Excellent. Maintain that, darling," he felt her inhale, exhale. "Now push against my energy. Look deeper."

"Uhh..." yeah. He was lost now. What did that even mean? How did he even do that? The Vaike wasn't good at all this mystic crap.

"You must be drawing on your own mana now, Vaike. Extend it beyond yourself; just as you channeled it through that stave. Channel it through your hands. allow it to flow into me."

O...kay?

Vaike tried. So like when he was healing Donny, but instead of the staff thing, just... his hands? So ...

The tingling sensation passed from his hands to his very fingertips, dancing along where they met Maribelle's face. He  _touched_ the source of that glow emanating from her, and just for an instant, there was something... there was something...

Wait. Someone.

 _Another_ faint glow. Beneath hers.

Vaike's eyes snapped open.

Maribelle was looking straight up at him, a tight and tense smile on her face.

"'Belle what... what did the Vaike just feel?"

"Think about it a little, dear," she murmured. "Mana within mana."

Vaike's breath hitched.

No way.

He smiled, uncertainly at first, but as his confidence grew greater and greater, breaking out into a broad grin.

"Are you... expectin' something, 'Belle?"

She nodded, her cheeks flushed.

Vaike whooped, and in an instant, his arms were wrapped around her waist, spinning her around and around. Maribelle laughed, clinging on for dear life.

_He was gonna be a dad._

On the fifth rotation he put her down, his heart hammering a thousand beats a second. "That's amazin', 'Belle! You're amazin' - but sheesh, did ya have to be dramatic about tellin' me?"

"I wanted to... I wanted to choose the right moment," Maribelle told him, uncharacteristically abashed.

"You did, babe."

"Good. Good, I'm glad," - she didn't even tell him off for the pet name. Dang, she really was happy.

He took her hands in his again.

"Hey, 'Belle?" he shuffled his feet, slightly.

"Yes, darling?"

"I know uh... I know ol' Teach ain't always the most wordy of guys but..." he took a deep breath. "However good The Vaike is at all those Vaike things, like fightin' and battles and trainin'..." he squeezed her hands. "I promise to be even better at bein' a dad."

Her adoring smile was like the sunrise.

...He was gonna have to make sure their kid didn't spend  _all_ their time on etiquette lessons.


End file.
